Residents block road in protest against BRTS

DHARWAD: Hundreds of businessmen and residents of Sangam Circle and surrounding areas blocked the Dharwad-Hubballi Road for over one-and-half hours on Wednesday to protest the inconvenience caused to public by the BRTS project.
Led by Mahesh Shetti, former mayor Shivu Hiremath and Robert Daddapuri, the protest was staged near the Laxmi Talkies Junction. The protesters said that barricade placed to facilitate the movement of BRTS buses has closed connectivity between Sangam Circle and Laxmi Talkies.This is causing inconvenience to people travelling from Sangam Circle to Station Road, they said.
“With the authorities blocking the connectivity, the movement of people is affected and our business has been hit,” said Shetti. He said that the BRTS has cause more inconvenience than benefit to people.
NWKRTC official Vivekanand Daivajna and BRTS officer Sunil Abhyankar tried in vain to pacify the agitators. The protest was withdrawn after officials promised to hold a meeting to discuss the issue at 11am on March 11.